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Case TitleJUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2021cv02302
Date Filed2021-08-30
Date Closed2023-08-10
JudgeJudge Ana C. Reyes
PlaintiffJUDICIAL WATCH, INC.
Case DescriptionJudicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the National Institute of Health for records concerning emails sent by NIH Director Francis Collins related to "gain of function," "hydroxychloroquine," "HCQ," and "Wuhan Institute of Virology." The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy - Search, Litigation - Vaughn index, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantU.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Documents
Docket
Complaint
Complaint attachment 1
Complaint attachment 2
Complaint attachment 3
Complaint attachment 4
User-contributed Documents
 
Docket Events (Hide)
Date FiledDoc #Docket Text

2021-08-301COMPLAINT against U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES ( Filing fee $ 402 receipt number ADCDC-8700463) filed by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons for US Attorney for DC, # 3 Summons for US Attorney General, # 4 Summons for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)(Burke, Lauren) (Entered: 08/30/2021)
2021-08-302LCvR 26.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. (Burke, Lauren) (Entered: 08/30/2021)
2021-08-31Case Assigned to Judge Timothy J. Kelly. (zsb) (Entered: 08/31/2021)
2021-08-313SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachments: # 1 Notice and Consent)(adh, ) (Entered: 08/31/2021)
2021-09-134RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 9/3/2021. Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 10/3/2021. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of David Rothstein)(Burke, Lauren) (Entered: 09/13/2021)
2021-09-135RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 09/13/21. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of David Rothstein)(Burke, Lauren) (Entered: 09/13/2021)
2021-09-136RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES served on 9/10/2021 (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of David Rothstein)(Burke, Lauren) (Entered: 09/13/2021)
2021-09-137NOTICE of Appearance by Joseph F. Carilli, Jr on behalf of All Defendants (Carilli, Joseph) (Entered: 09/13/2021)
2021-09-14NOTICE OF ERROR re 4 Summons Returned Executed in FOIA as to U.S. Attorney; emailed to lburke@judicialwatch.org, cc'd 3 associated attorneys -- The PDF file you docketed contained errors: 1. Two-part docket entry, 2. DO NOT REFILE - Counsel is reminded to docket all parts of their filing (zjf, ) (Entered: 09/14/2021)
2021-09-14NOTICE OF ERROR re 4 Summons Returned Executed in FOIA as to U.S. Attorney; emailed to lburke@judicialwatch.org, cc'd 3 associated attorneys -- The PDF file you docketed contained errors: 1. Counsel will kindly disregard Notice of Error (zjf, ) (Entered: 09/14/2021)
2021-10-058ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.(Carilli, Joseph); Date Filed Modified on 10/8/2021. Counsel informed the Clerk's Office of system filing error (ztth). (Entered: 10/07/2021)
2021-10-07Case directly reassigned to District Judge Florence Y Pan. Judge Timothy J. Kelly is no longer assigned to the case. (ztnr) (Entered: 10/07/2021)
2021-10-078ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.(Carilli, Joseph) (Entered: 10/07/2021)
2021-11-179ORDER: Parties shall meet and confer and file a schedule by December 15, 2021. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 11/17/21. (lcrl) (Entered: 11/17/2021)
2021-11-17Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 12/15/2021. (zacr) (Entered: 11/17/2021)
2021-12-1510NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL by Derek S. Hammond on behalf of All Defendants Substituting for attorney Joseph F. Carilli, Jr. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 12/15/2021)
2021-12-1511Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 12/15/2021)
2021-12-16MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 11 Joint Status Report, the parties are directed to file another joint status report on or before March 15, 2022, and every 90 days thereafter. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 12/16/21. (lcrl) (Entered: 12/16/2021)
2021-12-16Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 3/15/2022. (zacr) (Entered: 12/16/2021)
2022-03-1512Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 03/15/2022)
2022-06-1313NOTICE of Appearance by Diana Viggiano Valdivia on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (Valdivia, Diana) (Entered: 06/13/2022)
2022-06-1314Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (Valdivia, Diana) (Entered: 06/13/2022)
2022-09-1215Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 09/12/2022)
2022-09-23Judge Florence Y. Pan has been elevated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She is therefore no longer assigned to this case, and this matter has been reassigned to the Calendar Committee, which will oversee it until it is assigned to another district judge. Any questions should be directed to Judge Pan's former deputy clerk, Samantha Calloway, at 202-354-3163 or samantha_calloway@dcd.uscourts.gov. (ztnr) (Entered: 09/23/2022)
2022-12-1216Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 12/12/2022)
2023-01-2617Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 01/26/2023)
2023-01-27MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of 17 the parties' joint status report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall file another joint status report on or before February 27, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Rudolph Contreras on 1/27/2023. (lcrc1) (Entered: 01/27/2023)
2023-01-27Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 2/27/2023. (zsmc) (Entered: 01/27/2023)
2023-02-24Case directly reassigned to District Judge Ana C. Reyes. Circuit Judge Florence Y. Pan is no longer assigned to the case. (ztnr) (Entered: 02/24/2023)
2023-02-2718Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 02/27/2023)
2023-03-2919Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 03/29/2023)
2023-03-2920STANDING ORDER: The parties are directed to read Judge Reyes's attached Standing Order in Civil Cases in its entirety. The parties are hereby ORDERED to comply with the directives in the attached Standing Order. Signed by Judge Ana C. Reyes on 3/29/2023. (lcsj) (Entered: 03/29/2023)
2023-04-2821Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Burke, Lauren) (Entered: 04/28/2023)
2023-06-0622Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 06/06/2023)
2023-06-3023NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL by Anna Davis Walker on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Substituting for attorney Derek S. Hammond and Diana Viggiano Valdivia (Walker, Anna) (Entered: 06/30/2023)
2023-08-0724STIPULATION of Dismissal by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (Walker, Anna) (Entered: 08/07/2023)
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